5 Reasons to Give Evernote a Second Chance
Evernote (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I should get a commission from Evernote because I literally tell everyone I meet about it. It’s one of the top-rated productivity apps in the iTunes App Store and I couldn’t live without it. But people tell me all the time that they’ve downloaded it but could just “never get into it,” or make it work for them.
I get that – Evernote does require a little bit of a commitment at first to be really useful. Usually, I pass along some great advice from LifeHacker.com about how to use Evernote effectively, but sometimes people just want the basics.
Here is my own list of Tips and Tricks to help make Evernote work for you:
1. Use it Often: The more you use it the more useful it becomes. Believe me. Notes in Evernote last forever, unlike that post-it stuck to your cell phone. When you can go back through weeks of to-do lists and can breathe easy that you didn’t miss a single thing, you’ll know what I mean.
2. Download the Web Clipper: It will become like second nature to clip all the things you want to save. Anything you can think of will be easy to stow away like an article you want to read later, a job you want to apply to or an idea for a Christmas gift for your mother. It works on any website you visit and there’s even a handy way to write yourself notes and tag the note so you can easily find it when you need it.
3. Use it to organize. Travel documents, recipes, gift giving, blog post ideas, passwords – Evernote has saved me time and again! One of the great things about Evernote is that you can download notebooks to use when you’re offline to your phone or iPad. This way if you’re stuck somewhere without WiFi you can still access all your important information. It’s a great place to keep quotes, websites, photos and even audio.
4. Sharing is Caring: The ways you can use Evernote to collaborate are endless. If you’re planning a wedding far from your bridesmaids — start a folder to keep ideas. Then each of you can add to it and comment on the things you like and don’t like. The web clipper makes it super simple. Try this when planning events, vacations, collaborating on blog posts and so much more.
5. Use the Email Feature: Every Evernote account comes with a personalized email address. Use it. It is a great time saver. When you get a confirmation that you want to keep track of – like a gift that you’ve purchased – send it to your Evernote email. It will automatically be placed in your folders and be easy to access whenever you need it. I use this feature when making charitable donations or paying professional organization fees. When the email confirmations come I forward them to my personalized Evernote email account and save them as tax write offs for the end of the year. Everything is nice and neat and in one spot.
I could go on and on and continue this list forever because there are so many useful ways to use Evernote. And the truth is I’m finding new uses all the time. But my best advice to you is to just start using it. The more you think of it as a second brain the more useful it will become.
For more tips and tricks, visit the Evernote Blog.
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